Revisited Revelations
by Pirate-Crisis
Summary: Should the dealer wish to reshuffle the cards of fate, alternatives can come to light, but never come to pass. You're just in time to see what could have become of the tragedy of Tokyo. [Spoilers for the Tokyo Arc and beyond.]
1. Prologue: Rewritten

"It's funny, you know, Watanuki."

"Funny as in 'ha-ha', Yuuko-san?"

"Not quite that."

Watanuki had gotten used to the strange woman's musings by now. Generally, he just let her talk, and attempted to take in what she had to say. He didn't mind it; there were so many strange happenings at the shop that occasionally her ramblings gave him some sort of insight. Not often, though.

He had been scrubbing the wood floors just outside of one of the shop's larger rooms. Yuuko's silhouette could be seen on the paper door, illuminated from the eerie glow of a single candle. Night had fallen an hour ago, and the fireflies were dancing in the garden already. He tossed the brush into the water bucket and leaned against one of the columns near the door.

"What's funny, Yuuko-san?" he asked, deciding to humor the woman.

"Did you know that fate tries to rewrite itself?" She answered with another question, but did not pause for an answer. "Occasionally, the dealer decides to reshuffle the deck, and deals the cards differently."

"Odd." Watanuki said noncommittally.

"While it tries to rewrite the story, it never makes it to print." She paused. "That is to say, Hitsuzen is definite. While there are substitutes to the destiny, only the pre-ordained one ever comes to pass. The alternative fate will never be known to the players, and their reality is the only one they ever see." There was a rustle of fabric, as if Yuuko had slipped her kimono off her shoulder. "Do you remember our traveler friends, Watanuki?"

Watanuki nodded, and realizing she couldn't see him, added a "Yes," for good measure.

"They had terrible misfortune some time ago, which caused the pieces to fall in a certain pattern."

There was another rustle of fabric, and the creaking of floorboards as Yuuko stood.

"But something has asked fate to re-create it. To let an alternative be known, even if it never comes to pass." She walked to the door, not that Watanuki was taking much notice. "And, we may be fortunate enough to see it." The door slid open and smacked into the wooden post opposite Watanuki with a loud CLACK. "However, I do have a concern."

"And that is?" Watanuki looked up to see Yuuko standing in the outfit he'd heard her called the "Space-Time Witch" whilst wearing. The black silk sounded like falling rain as it slid across the wood floors.

"That someone will attempt to bring it to reality to benefit themselves."


	2. Blood on the Page

Watanuki followed Yuuko into the garden, carrying a pitcher full of water. Maru and Moro were close behind, eerily silent, each holding one side of a glass basin. Etched into the basin's sides were strange runes that Watanuki had never seen before, though they slightly resembled a European language that he'd seen only once.

Yuuko indicated where to set the basin, and then the young girls scampered away after setting it on the grass. It shimmered in a peculiar sort of way, shining much brighter than the fireflies around it. The moon was gone tonight, and the lights of the city that surrounded them on every side seemed to have died away.

"Pour the water into that, slowly." Yuuko directed, and Watanuki did as told, tipping the glass pitcher into the basin. The water filled the basin up quickly, and threatened to spill over the rim. "Until there's nothing left." Yuuko added, and Watanuki continued to pour. Somehow, the basin contained it all, shallow though it was. "Now, step back." Once more, Watanuki obeyed orders, stepping behind Yuuko.

"What's all this for, anyway?" he asked.

"So we may see this alternate destiny." she stared at the basin. "You may set the pitcher down on the wood, keep it off the grass."

While Watanuki had his back turned, he heard a brief dripping sound, like rain dripping into a puddle. By the time he'd around it had stopped, and Yuuko hadn't moved.

"I don't believe you know what happened to the travelers originally, Watanuki."

"Er…" he racked his brain. "No, I don't think I do."

"Essentially," She said, "through a chain of events, the wizard, Fai, lost his eye to someone the travelers thought of as an ally. His eyes contained a great magic power, which this ally gained half of by eating one of the eyes." Watanuki grimaced at the thought of eating a person's eyeball. Yuuko continued, "Due to a lack of medicine in the country they were in, this could have been a fatal wound. The ally's name was Syaoran. He was the boy you saw with the princess on that day some time ago."

Watanuki stared. "B-but, he was a nice guy! I mean, I thought he was-"

"He was a clone of the original boy named Syaoran, who sealed part of his heart into this clone." Yuuko explained with the detached air of a narrator in an old fairy tale. "To save Fai's life, the warrior Kurogane made a wish for someone else. That wish's price was brought to me through great effort by Princess Sakura." Watanuki had this feeling that the witch was leaving something out here, but ignored it. "In return for making that wish, Kurogane learned that if he were to make Fai into a vampire, the wizard would live. However, this is not what the wizard wanted at all; he wished to die so the clone could not use his magic, which was very powerful, even though at half-strength.

"Kurogane disregarded this, and turned Fai into a vampire." Yuuko sighed for the first time in her story. "Fai can only feed from Kurogane's blood, but whether he wants to or not remains to be seen. From what I've heard, they've only just left that world, and nobody is very comfortable with each other."

"Do you know what this 'alternative destiny' or whatever it is… do you know if it will be for the better?" Watanuki couldn't even imagine the strife this group had been through.

"No, I do not. But stories with changed endings never change for the better."

The water rose from the basin into a sort of circular mirror, on the surface of which a movie seemed to be playing.

"Here is where the differences begin," Yuuko said. "Kurogane was at Fai's side by the time Syaoran made to attack."

"He made it in time to save him, right?" Watanuki watched the water-screen as it dripped into the basin. Vaguely familiar people were in it, fighting, yelling.

"Yes, Kurogane was able to save Fai."

"Well, that's good, right?" Watanuki glanced up at Yuuko, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"You can erase words from the page, but you cannot erase the blood spilled upon it." A firefly passed by Yuuko's eyes, and the water's light seemed to dim momentarily. "It was just a matter of changing whose blood was spilt."

"Wait, you mean Kurogane's—"

"Watch," she pointed an elegant finger to the screen, where three people were standing on a pillar. The tall form of Kurogane was standing between Fai and the other person. With a sickening feeling in his stomach, Watanuki realized that it was Syaoran.

----

"I need his eyes to collect the feathers."

This statement echoed through the chamber under the government building. From below, a girl's faint voice could be heard, yelling for her friends, who seemed hell-bent on killing each other. Fai had just received a good kick to the face, and Kurogane was now standing between him and the kid. This boy had the same body as Syaoran, but his right eye was pale and his aura was cold.

"His eyes contain a magic stronger than you could imagine. I need them." Syaoran said again.

"It'll be a cold day in hell when I let you have them," Kurogane's voice was low, his voice only carried to the boy.

"You're in the way," He replied calmly.

"And that's where I'll stay," Kurogane snarled. He reached for his side out of habit, but found no sword to aide him. He had never been much of a fist fighter, but knew he could throw a few good punches.

Kurogane had expected a retort, but the kid simply launched an attack, launching forward into a powerful kick. The ninja caught the boy's leg and threw him into the air, thinking he could knock Fai out of the way if he really needed to. Instead of aiming his new assault for the wizard, Syaoran sprang at Kurogane instead with a fierce determination.

Fai shook his head to clear the pain, and looked up in time to see the attack connect. Kurogane slammed into a pillar below them with a loud crack. Syaoran landed on the man's chest with force, though Kurogane didn't respond to it—he seemed to be unconscious.

The world seemed to slow. Syaoran raised a hand above Kurogane's chest, seemingly ready to rip out the man's heart. Fai jumped from the pillar above the two. Upon landing, he lunged for Syaoran, grabbing him about the waist and pulling him off of Kurogane. No spell would have been fast enough to knock the boy away, that's what he told himself.

In hindsight, Fai only wondered if you could really hear the sound of ripping flesh. He kicked away from Syaoran, who stood again. Glancing behind, he saw Kurogane's chest rising and falling— he was still alive, still breathing— but to Fai's horror, blood was flowing over the left side of Kurogane's face.

The wizard couldn't form any words. He couldn't say anything to Syaoran, whose hand was drenched in the ninja's blood.

He just let out a primal scream and fired a spell at the boy's chest.


	3. You Won't

The first spell hit Syaoran squarely in the chest, sending him flying a good distance back. He dodged the accompanying torrent of magic by simply allowing himself to fall to the floor of the water room.

This attracted Fai's attention before the smoke had a chance to clear. Throwing another volley of attack spells, Fai only hit Syaoran once or twice. What the boy was standing in front of, however, split open. It was a large cocoon-like shell, whose arms extended to the walls, pillars of matter upon which Kurogane laid, bleeding. Inside this cocoon was a girl, who had watched the whole battle.

"Fai-san! Syaoran-kun!" Sakura cried, her hands shaking. "You've got to stop, please!"

Syaoran spun to look at her, and she shied away. Behind her, in the cocoon was a glow- it was a feather, the feathers they had been searching for. He grabbed it in his fist and pulled Sakura close to her, forcing the feather into her chest. She was asleep again before she could even attempt to protest.

----

"Wha—but he—but what about—" Watanuki stammered dumbly, staring at the screen. After a while, he ran out of unfinished sentences and just started opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

"But wait," Yuuko said, crossing her arms. "Another player is about to appear."

"What? More bad guys?"

"No." she replied. A dragonfly landed on the rim of the basin, illuminated from below. "The real Syaoran is about to make his appearance, although all he comes to find is the aftermath."

----

"You get away from her." Fai whispered, watching Syaoran set the princess down on the ground.

"I have to gather the princess' feathers. No harm will come to her." He stated impassively.

"And how many people have to die for you to collect them all?"

"As many as it takes." Syaoran looked up to where Kurogane was; his blood was now dripping to the floor below. From there, his gaze turned to the onlookers, who collectively shuddered as his eyes fell on them.

"And his blood's not enough?" Fai held up his hands. "_IS HIS BLOOD NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?!" _ The spell exploded from the wizard's hands with enough force that the whole building quivered. Words made of light wrapped themselves around Syaoran's body, and a circle appeared on the floor below him. A circle used for transportation.

Suddenly, above him, a similar circle appeared, and an identical boy fell from it. The only difference was a black eye patch that was wrapped around the right side of his face. He surveyed the situation quickly. 

"Wait!" He yelled. "He has something of mine!"

Fai stared at him, trying to understand how he'd arrived, and he finally just yelled, "Go!"

The second Syaoran ran to his double, who was struggling to free himself and pried something from his hand. He ran back, and Fai pulled his fist into the air. The first Syaoran suddenly vanished, leaving only a puddle of Kurogane's blood on the floor where it had dripped from his hand.

"Explain later," Fai said sharply. "I'll hear your story later."

----

The water-mirror suddenly fell from the air and landed back in the basin, not a drop falling onto the grass around it. Watanuki gave a strangled holler of surprise and jumped back. Yuuko did not move; she seemed to have expected it. The fireflies had seemed to vanish like the mirror, and the only source of light was in the center of the water.

"What was that?!" The teenager yelped. "What happened?"

"A part of the fate was left unchanged."

"And that caused the whole thing to go away?"

Yuuko knelt on the grass, and put two fingertips on the surface of the water. "It thinks that it's pointless to just show you the same thing, so it doesn't wish to continue." Watanuki knew better than to question what 'it' was. The witch stood, and the water clung to her fingers like a spider's web. "The unchanged aspect was someone you didn't see. His name is Kamui, and he has been guarding that cocoon for some time; his brother was locked away in it and kept in a deep sleep. Subaru was awoken when Sakura was freed."

"All right," Watanuki watched her create a spiral of water-ribbon.

"This is significant, as they are both vampires."

"V-vampires? Like, '_I vant to suck your neck…!'_" Watanuki drew his arm around his face as though he were hiding it in a cloak. "Like that?"

"Not quite. Though, they do feed from human blood." Yuuko placed her palm in the center of the spiral, and the screen re-formed. "We will continue the story now."

The picture flowed into existence, and the fireflies appeared again.

----

"People die from these kinds of wounds from shock alone," Fai heard the person saying. "With our limited supplies, I don't know what we can do."

Kurogane's black hair made the white bandages stand out, an effect like snow on new asphalt. Fai was running his fingers through the ninja's thin bangs— the strands were still slightly sticky with blood. Perched on the edge of the bed, one arm around his knees, the wizard didn't want to make a decision. He didn't know what decision to make. If Kurogane was to live in pain for years to come… if more ill came of this.

A decision had been made for him once.

He stared at the window in the dirty flesh-colored wall. The acid rain had begun to fall again, splashing against the windows in an angry torrent. Fai stared at them, imploring each drop for an answer. Each thunderclap held a resolution, but none cared to share, leaving Fai alone, until the voices around him silenced; a deep, throaty snarl came from the bed.

"Hey."

The wizard stood bolt upright and was at Kurogane's side in a flash of lightning.

"I don't want to die in this place." His voice was weak, horribly weak, just above a whisper. Normally Fai could hear the confidence in his voice, the strength of the sword just behind his sarcasm. There was nothing like that here: it was almost a child's plea, though Kurogane made it a demand. _Don't let me die. I'm not dying in this place._

Fai couldn't form the words to reply.

Kurogane's breathing was weaker than his voice; it seemed to take what little energy he had to fill his huge chest with air.

"You won't." The wizard finally said. "You won't."

Satisfied with this answer, the ninja fell silent again.

"Mokona-chan," Fai murmured, looking around. He'd finally become uncomfortably aware of his surroundings. He hadn't noticed any of the people in the room before, but there were a great number of people: Sakura and the other Syaoran, Kamui and some other boy… he skimmed the unfamiliar faces until he saw Mokona, still dozing in that same boy's arms. His knees shaking slightly, Fai crossed to the boy. "May I see Mokona-chan?" He forced a smile, he must have looked awful, covered in dirt and fingertips stained with Kurogane's blood.

He felt guilty asking for the little pork bun to wake up, but it was overjoyed to see _someone_ alive.

"Moko-chan, I need to speak to Yuuko-san."

Wordlessly, Mokona nodded, its ears flailing behind it. As it looked up, a red beam shot forth from the gem on its forehead. Standing in the center of the beam of light was the figure of a woman. A few people in the room gasped.

----

On Yuuko's right, a second "screen" appeared, and Watanuki had to slap his hands over his mouth to stifle his yelp of surprise. This one was made of light and coming from the porch, where the black Mokona was dead asleep.

"Good evening." Yuuko murmured to the figures in the light's circle. Watanuki saw the blond wizard, and behind him was the second Syaoran, Sakura, and some other people he did not recognize. Looking to the water-screen, he could see that Kurogane was in front of Fai, and out of Mokona's range of view.

"I have a wish, Yuuko-san."

_His voice is so calm, _Watanuki marveled. _It's so calm, yet there's so much wrong…_

As he stared into the wizard's tired face, Watanuki liked to think that behind those blue eyes, he was sobbing. That's all he should be doing. Watanuki wouldn't blame him in the least if that was exactly what he did.

Yuuko's reply was the same as it had ever been, though perhaps a shade quieter. "There is a price."

Fai looked grave.

"Name it."


	4. To Cut a Rope

In the silence that followed Fai's words, nothing moved. It was an instant of pure silence, of empty sound. The rain that began to burn at the windows was muted. Kurogane's weak breathing was quiet.

The fireflies vanished.

It had happened before, and had concerned Watanuki greatly. This time, inexplicably, he felt no apprehension. Yuuko only watched the second screen, searching the wizard's eyes.

"A balance of power must be reached in that world. You still have use of your magic, yes?"

Fai gave her a puzzled look that asked something like, _Why wouldn't I? _

"Ah, yes. I apologize." She glanced down, Watanuki could not surmise at what. "Half of the price. Half you can only pay me now. I must take the second half later."

"Price is not important, name what you want done."

Yuuko still didn't look up, and she took a good long time to do so. Watanuki figured she was making up her mind. "Subaru."

The gentler of the vampire twins jumped slightly. "Yes?" He said, leaning forward to the screen.

"You wish to help these people, don't you?"

"Yes." He admitted sadly. Kamui's frown deepened at the corners.

"I offer a proposal." Yuuko said, focusing back on Fai. "Kurogane becomes a vampire, and in exchange, Fai, you grant the wish of all those people standing in the room. I know you can make it rain, at the very least. You can summon water from air, can't you?"

"I have done so many times before, Yuuko-san."

"You do still owe me half of the payment. I leave you with a guarantee that Kurogane will not die _before _you, Fai. That's all I promise, and all I offer my power for. I will collect my payment when the time comes, and you will not question it then." She said this all very slowly, as a lawyer would explain a condemned man's sentence.

Others in the room would argue that this didn't seem very fair at all, but Fai didn't argue. He bowed low, his bangs brushing the floor. "Thank you, Yuuko-san."

She nodded, and the light vanished, leaving Watanuki and Yuuko quite suddenly alone. The water-mirror was spiraling aimlessly, showing churning colors but no real shapes.

Yuuko took a deep breath and looked at Watanuki. "These alternate existences are too much sometimes. It's like a rope. At one end, it's straight and linear. The beginning is the same. Once you head down that rope, someone has sliced into it with a knife. It's still connected to its original destiny, but parts of it fray and change. They don't grow. They don't grow to become a new rope, Watanuki."

Watanuki took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose, taking it all in. "'Stories with changed endings never change for the better.' You said that. We saw the 'blood on the page', right? The blood that never goes away… but…"

"It doesn't grow to become a new rope."

"There will never be an alternate ending." He looked at her and then shook his head. "No, there will be an ending, won't there?"

"Watanuki, how do you keep a rope from fraying further?"

"Dip it in tar? I don't know."

"Burn it. Let fire lick up all the loose ends."

The water-screen took on a new light, an orange glow, as if it were a river of flame. The fireflies, Watanuki felt, would not return tonight.

----

Morning broke on the acid-drenched world of Tokyo—not that anyone could tell, the rain hadn't ceased all night, and the clouds still grew darker at daybreak. A perpetual night.

Fai had summoned water for the people. He and Kamui both bled for Kurogane's life.

He shuddered, remembering the pain Kurogane had been in. Becoming a vampire had changed Kurogane's physical make-up. The wizard had never heard him cry out in agony, never seen him clutch at his own chest until he bled; Kurogane had never clung to Fai until his pale, thin arms bruised. The exhausted silence that followed hurt Fai the most. Aching, panting; weary life suddenly filled every sore limb of the ninja's body and Fai could only wonder how much he'd be hated when Kurogane awoke. By everyone.

_I saved his life. That's what he asked for._

This time when Kurogane stirred, Fai was reluctant to respond. He did, after a second's pause. One red eye, blurry with sleep and worn-off medicines took a moment to focus on the wizard.

"Hey."

Fai's words caught in his throat. He offered a sad smile and murmured, "Good morning, Kuro-sama."

There was a long, awkward silence. Neither of the pair knew what to fill it with, what words would bring comfort to the other. Fai tried to imagine what was running through Kurogane's head. _I saved him, _Fai thought, _but at what cost?_ He was tethered to Fai now, like a dog on a chain, whether Kurogane liked it or not.

"Thank you." The words stirred the wizard from such depressed thoughts. "I owe you. Whatever it means now, you saved me."

"No, no, no." Fai adopted his smile and generic "ah-ha-ha-don't-mind-me" chuckle. "We're even. You saved me first. Imagine if he'd gotten me…" he trailed off, guilt sinking in his stomach like a stone. If it had been him, Kurogane would be better off. He wished he could go back. He wanted to be the sacrifice, the lamb on the altar.

Blocking all this from his mind, Fai relayed what happened to Syaoran, to the princess, and the new Syaoran that was here. He explained the vampirism, explained that Kurogane could only feed from Fai's blood—no other's could sustain him. Kurogane made no protest to this. He was happy—as happy as he ever showed in his often-stoic face in these dire situations—to simply be alive. And he owed Fai that.

It was a debt that scared Fai, it disturbed him. He'd saved people before with his powers, with his skills, but no group ever claimed to owe him a debt. They rewarded him with physical goods, and Kurogane hadn't even voiced such an opinion, but the look in that one eye was enough.

There was a debt there to be paid, no matter how the two ever denied it.

----

"Where now, Yuuko-san?" Watanuki looked at the two in their world. "Where can they possibly go now?"

"Wherever Mokona takes them. Until their ending." Yuuko stared straight at the screen, while Watanuki felt shy intruding upon this strange, foreign destiny.

"'Their ending', you said?"

"Their rope is in a line of sparks. It's only a matter of time before it's eaten by flame."

----

(Author's Note: I was pleasantly surprised upon starting this the massive reaction it received. I'm quite shocked to have thirteen watches and 743 hits over my measly three chapters. I'm sorry to keep you waiting so long for a fourth installment, and I doubt it will be the last. My only concern is where this rope is unraveling too… please, by all means, offer any speculations in reviews you'd like. I like to hear what you all think could happen next! I'm very sorry for the lack of action in this chapter. You all seem to enjoy the fight scenes I debate so much about writing.)


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